Articles by Section - NATION/WORLD

WASHINGTON (AP) - With higher taxes on the wealthy and billions in new spending, President Barack Obama's no-balance budget lays down an audacious challenge to Republicans who swept to full control of Congress last fall and now claim a mandate to eliminate deficits over the next decade.

ATLANTA (AP) - Messages of support were being offered Monday as people awaited word on singer Whitney Houston's daughter, who authorities say was found face down and unresponsive in a bathtub over the weekend in a suburban Atlanta townhome.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Troubled by consumer complaints and loopholes in state laws, federal regulators are putting together the first rules on payday loans aimed at helping cash-strapped borrowers avoid falling into a cycle of high-rate debt.

NEW YORK (AP) - Rod McKuen, the husky-voiced "King of Kitsch" whose avalanche of music, verse and spoken-word recordings in the 1960s and '70s overwhelmed critical mockery and made him an Oscar-nominated songwriter and one of the best-selling poets in history, has died. He was 81.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Republican opposition is growing to a bipartisan Senate plan for expanding background checks for firearms buyers, enough to put the proposal's fate in jeopardy. But the measure may change as both sides compete for support in one of the pivotal fights in the battle over curbing guns.

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - An attorney for the parents of a girl who was sexually assaulted and later hanged herself said Monday the teen awoke from the attack with drawings and the name of one suspect scrawled on intimate parts of her body.

ATLANTA (AP) - Jody Hice, a conservative talk radio host and minister who made headlines when he fought the ACLU over displays of the Ten Commandments in courthouses, says he'll be running for Congress in the 10th District.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Here's a little secret for all you procrastinators on Tax Day: The Internal Revenue Service doesn't like to talk about it, but as long as you don't owe any additional taxes, there is no penalty for filing a few days late.

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Hugo Chavez's hand-picked successor, Nicolas Maduro, has won Venezuela's presidential election by a stunningly narrow margin that highlights rising discontent over problems ranging from crime to power blackouts. His rival demanded a recount, portending more headaches for a country shaken by the death of its dominating leader.